Grieved it On its Way
by Unstoppable Cyborg
Summary: Claire, Jim, Blinky, and Nomura say goodbye to their loved ones. Takes place during 3Below S2E7 "Asteroid Rage". Rated T for discussions of death, no death actually happens.


**So when I started writing this, my plan was to turn this into a fic for jlairweek, since an asteroid could be called a falling star. However, I couldn't find a way to turn this into a ship fic instead of a family-orientated one, so have your gen hurt with not too much comfort.**

**Title comes from the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night"**

* * *

Ophelia rarely showed fear. She was a strong woman, and Javier loved that about her.

In the past month she had looked scared so often. Their daughter had been fighting trolls and hopping through different dimensions. Their town had been invaded by man-eating trolls.

"I love you," she said, pulling away from her husband's embrace. "Tell Claire I love her and I'm proud of her."

Their town was about to be bombarded by a pair of extinction-level asteroids, and for a moment she looked more afraid than he had ever seen her. Then she put on a brave face and went to talk to their town about the apocalypse they couldn't fight.

* * *

"Hey, do you feel that?" Jim said. He tilted his head eastward, like a sunflower towards the sun.

"Feel what?" Claire asked in return.

"It's like a warm buzzing, or a pull." Claire gave her boyfriend an odd look.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Last... day? Yesterday afternoon? It sounds so weird to say it like that." Jim frowned. "The point is, I slept the same amount of time as you did!"

And the last time they had slept had been a merciful rest, uninterrupted by new dangers or PTSD-influenced nightmares. "Maybe you need more now?"

"Why? The trolls don't sleep as much as we do, if anything I shouldn't need as much sleep as you do."

"I mean, our circadian rhythms were definitely thrown off from all the late-night patrols."

"Don't worry, it's not a lack of sleep causing that feeling, Master Jim," Blinky said. "You're sensing the heartstone. We're getting close."

"Okay, troll thing. Cool," Claire said.

"Does it _always_ feel that intense?" Jim asked.

"You'll get used to it," Nomura said. The three of them turned to her. "The only heartstone in Japan was on the other side of the country from where my familiar's family lived. It was an odd feeling to me, as well, but living in Arcadia made it normal."

Jim opened his mouth to make a remark when Claire's phone went off.

"Hi, Papi," Claire said.

Jim's phone rang. "Papi? What's wrong?"

"We're already in New Jersey. _What's wrong, _Papi?" Nomura's phone rang.

As Blinky's phone rang, Claire's face went pale.

* * *

"Hi, Papi," Claire said.

"You know your mother and I love you, right? And that we're proud of you?" Javier asked. He glanced at his wife. Knowing Claire, she would prefer if her mother would say those words herself. However, Ophelia had a duty to Arcadia.

"Papi? What's wrong?"

"Your brother loves you, too."

"Both of us do!" NotEnrique said, popping out from under the bench. If Javier had more time, maybe he and Ophelia would have officially adopted the small troll.

"Claire, we all love you so much," Javier continued. "How far are you from Arcadia?"

"We're already in New Jersey. _What's wrong,_ Papi?"

"Good, you'll be safe. I think. There's a pair of asteroids."

* * *

It was feeding time at the Lake-and-Strickler residence. Both Barbara and Walter held babies in their arms as they watched the news. The broadcast on the potential recall of avocado-based products was cut short by the image of Ophelia Nuñez behind a podium.

As Ophelia began to speak, Barbara adjusted her grip on Waltolomew to grab the phone to call her son.

As she gripped her cellphone between her shoulder and her jaw, Walter spoke. "Could you grab my phone? Left pocket. I'd call Nomura myself, but I don't want to drop her familiar."

Barbara handed his phone to him and mouthed "adjust your grip."

"Hi, Jim," Barbara said, standing up. "Basement," she mouthed to her housemate.

"Hello, Nomura," Walter said, fumbling with the infant in his arms as he followed Barbara.

"I love you, and I'm so glad you found Mr. Blinky," Barbara said, tossing her laundry on the ground to make it into a softer surface.

"I know we've had our differences, but I don't know if I have much time left," Walter said as he placed Hisa down next to his own familiar.

"Jim, there's a pair of asteroids heading towards Arcadia," Barbara said, taking two stairs at a time. "Walter, the babies, and I are going to be sheltering in the basement, but in case anything happens to me I want you to know that I love you. Listen to your dad for me, and I know you're going to try and find a way to blame yourself for this so _don't."_

"It's fitting, almost. We knew rocks would kill us," Walter said, grabbing formula and water bottles. "We just thought they'd be sentient and call us impure."

* * *

"Love Blinky," AAARRRGGHH! said, picking up Gnome Chompsky's dollhouse and carrying it to T. "Space rocks falling."

"Asteroids?" Blinky said from across the continent. "That's terrible, can you get everyone to Trollmarket? You may be safe there."

"Not enough time."

"Oh, AAARRGGHH!, I wish you could be here with me. I can't bear to lose you, not again."

"Want to be with you, too."

* * *

Claire had been a good child. She hadn't thrown large tantrums like articles on raising teenagers warned against.

As asteroids rained towards his town and his daughter's choked and panicked breathing filled his ear, Javier realized that he would never find out just how much his and his wife's parenting had hurt Claire. They had taught her to repress her emotions, and he didn't know how she would take his death.

He hoped that she would be okay in the end.

Twin green lasers flashed streaked across the sky.

"Mija, it's going to be okay," he said.

"No, it's not," Claire said. She sounded like she didn't want tears to be running down her face as she spoke her last words to him.

"No, it's, well, the asteroids are gone now."

* * *

"Wait, they're gone?" Claire asked. She looked up at the equally panicked trolls.

"How?" Nomura asked, both to Claire and her former superior.

"Green lasers?" Jim asked. "Okay, that sounds weird, hey, did I cry as much as the familiars do?"

Hanging up with their loved ones was a herculean effort. When they did, Claire and Jim fell wordlessly into each other's arms, sobbing. Blinky wrapped his arms around the children. Nomura tried to keep her distance but ended up patting Jim on the head in a way that was meant to be comforting.

"Oh, what is all the ruckus about?" Merlin asked, walking towards the group. "Can't a wizard get any sleep around here?"

Claire looked up at him. "Wait, so it wasn't you who exploded the asteroids with magic lasers?"

The wizard scoffed. "Like I said, I was _asleep._ And don't think you're going to be learning how to _explode_ rocks until you can figure out how to _levitate_ that pebble I gave you. Don't wake me unless the world's ending or we're going to start moving again."

Claire chose to nestle herself further into her boyfriend's and his father's arms rather than make any comments on exactly _where_ she would levitate that pebble.


End file.
